Running head: NEGOTIATION STYLES

Negotiation Styles
Eric Henderson
Siena Heights University

NEGOTIATION STYLES

Negotiation Styles
Negotiation is a concept which takes place in every instance of life. There are many
instances during a day when a person could be negotiating with another party, there is no way to
avoid them. The most common area for negotiations is in the business world when customers,
employees, organizations, etc. have to communicate and negotiate with each other on a daily
basis. Some people are educated and prepared to negotiate, while others seem to lack the skills
necessary to make a good deal. According to Pinet and Sanders (n.d.), negotiators come from
all walks of life: all personalities, all experiences, and all styles. Because everyone is different,
everyone has different ways in which they negotiate. These different styles allow the individuals
to understand their personal negotiating strengths and counter their weaknesses, allowing for a
more beneficial negotiation. Because of this, many negotiators benefit from learning the different
negotiation styles and their characteristics. These styles of negotiation include: the intimidator,
the flatterer, the seducer, the complainer, the arguer, and the logical thinker.
The Intimidator
Beginning with the intimidator, this style of negotiation likes to focus on emotions and
prevent those emotions from thinking logically about the negotiation. The intimidator begins by
making the negotiation personal by creating a relationship with the opposing party. Once that
relationship is created, the intimidator tends to make the negotiation personal, and blames any
issues on the opposing parties, attempting to pressure them into making a deal. Once the
intimidator has the opposing party on defense, that is when they strike because they want you to
make the deal when you are in a stressful environment. Any deal that is made under stress is
typically not a good deal so the intimidator almost always wins when a deal is made. In cases
where the intimidator does not win, the opposing party acts professional. They remain calm and
in control of the negotiation, communicating to the intimidator that they will not take the bait.
Another way to defend against the intimidator is to keep the negotiation as business like as

NEGOTIATION STYLES

possible by keeping the focus on the task at hand and asking open ended questions to avoid
simple yes and no answers.
The Flatterer
The next negotiation style is the flatterer who also likes to focus on the emotions of the
opposing party. The difference between the flatterer and the negotiator is the flatterer
communicates insincere personal remarks meant to throw you off balance. In other words, the
flatterer may hype you up and praise everything about you in order to make you feel good. This
type of style makes you feel as if you have the upper hand in the negotiation and would be doing
the negotiator a favor by accepting certain deals, which is not the case at the end. In order to
defend yourself from a flatterer, try to steer the conversation away from your emotions by
redirecting it to the issues at hand. One can also take notes which communicates to the flatterer
that you mean business and that it is your goal to achieve a successful negotiation, not to fall for
any of their remarks. By ignoring the remarks, the flatterer will eventually realize that you are
not falling for their tactics.
The Seducer
The seducer is another negotiation style that also attempts to play mind games with the
opposing party. By communicating a picture perfect deal and describing it exactly the way you
want it, this leaves the party with no reason to not accept the deal. However, as soon as the
details are communicated, the deal turns out to be something other than what is initially
communicated. Seducers are crafty people who are focused on themselves, but do a good job
hiding it from others. In order to stay away from false negotiations, make sure you read the fine
print in a negotiation. If you see that something is not right, do not deal with a seducer. If you
continue to deal with a seducer, they will continually manipulate you into thinking one thing,
which will eventually cost you in the long run. Make sure you are 100 percent certain you know
the ins and outs of every deal before coming to a conclusion.
The Complainer

NEGOTIATION STYLES

Everyone has had to deal the with complainer several times in your life, especially with
children or as a child. This negotiation style occurs when a person is deceitful and complains that
certain things are unfair in order to reach a deal. The complainer can do a good job of getting
into your head and making you listen before you make the deal. The main goal of a complainer is
to be heard and understood, so once this goal is achieved, the complainer will become easier to
work with and a whole lot more reasonable. Because of this, the only defense against a
complainer is to listen. This may require a lot of patience, but it will pay off in the end because
the complainer typically rewards you for listening by giving you a better deal. The people who
are closed off to listening communicate to the complainer that they do not care and just want to
make a deal, resulting in a bad deal. So at the end of the day, it is important to actively listen to a
complainer, and make it know that you are actually listening and hearing everything they are
saying.
The Arguer
Unfortunately, everyone has also had to deal with the arguer at one point or another in
their lifetime. This negotiation style occurs when the negotiator argues the main points in a deal
or nitpicks at the smaller details. This style can begin at the start of the negotiation or can happen
in the middle of the negotiation when things may not go in the arguers favor. The main reason for
arguing is to pounce on any moves in a negotiation in order to slow it down and analyze every
detail. The best way to defend against an arguer is to keep an agenda and communicate to the
arguer that you need to keep o schedule so that all details in the negotiation can be discussed.
Also, by picking and choosing which arguments are the important ones and which ones are not,
the defender can spend more time arguing the important topics and just ignore the smaller
arguments in order to speed up the process and create a successful deal.
The Logical Thinker

NEGOTIATION STYLES

The final negotiation style is the logical thinker, which tends to overthink and
overanalyze each and every issue in a negotiation. Although a logical thinker may be very
helpful to a negotiation, they can also be very tedious. This is because a logical thinker will
explain a point multiple times until it is finally understood and an appropriate response is
received. Until that response is received, the logical thinking will only continue to go on and on.
The logical thinker can be both self-centered and epithetic because they may bring up
information you didnt know and is found to be very helpful with the negotiation, but they may
not be able to understand or choose not to understand your reasonings behind a disagreement.
To defend against a logical thinker, it is important to be prepared by doing your research. By
answering any questions with sincerity and an educated answer, the logical thinker will not be
left with as many questions. It is also a good idea to keep the conversation simple and ask them
questions to help them better understand what they may be missing.
My Professional Negotiation Skills
When it comes to my professional negotiating skills, I believe I am a negotiator who is
good at seducing others. The issue with the definitions I found on the different styles of
negotiation is they make all styles seem negative, as if all negotiating does is attempt to bribe
others in order to make a successful deal for yourself. I am not that way and look more towards a
win-win negotiation. With recruiting for the Siena Heights baseball team, it is basically our job
to hype up all our recruits and make them think they are the best fit for our baseball team. They
wouldnt be a recruit of ours if we didnt believe this was true so I try to seduce all the recruits
and make them feel wanted by our baseball program and our university. To the recruits, however,
I could also be viewed as the intimidator because many of them have never been through the
recruiting process so they are uneducated and unexperienced with the process. Because they may
always feel under pressure to visit schools, workout with teams, and continue on with their daily

NEGOTIATION STYLES

lifes, they may also feel pressured to make a deal in a quick amount of time. Although I try to
calm each recruit and their familys down, I cannot ask every question for them so I do what I
can with the information I have.
Conclusion
Overall, every person is different, which means they all have different ways to negotiate.
With the six main negotiating styles being the intimidator, the flatterer, the seducer, the
complainer, the arguer, and the logical thinker, it is important to understand each style and how
to defend against it. It is easier to negotiate with another party if you can understand their
negotiation style. It is also possible that one person can possess multiple negotiation styles so it
is important to always be on top of the negotiation and all the details behind them. Make sure all
research is done before negotiating so you can sound educated about different issues and details
that a certain negotiation style may attempt to take advantage of you with. Being prepared and
staying on the topic of the negotiation are the best ways to create a successful negotiation.

NEGOTIATION STYLES

7
References

"Five Negotiation Styles: An Oveview." Mediate Your Conflict Using ADR as a Mediator Find a
Resolution for Divorce Using Mediation. N.p., 18 Mar. 2013. Web. 15 June 2016.
Harvard business review on winning negotiations. (2011). Boston, MA: Harvard Business
Review Press.
"Negotiation Styles." Definition Meaning. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2016.
Nuutinen, Jussi, Erkki Sutinen, Adele Botha, and Piet Kommers. "From Mindtools to Social
Mindtools: Collaborative Writing with Woven Stories." British Journal of Educational
Technology 41.5 (2009): 753-75. Web.
Pinet, A., & Sander, P. J. (n.d.). The only negotiation book you'll ever need: Winning maneuvers
for the digital age!